Courage

Please read this article to be inspired by the courage of Afghan women. (Also see the post from April 5 for a further explanation of the law they were protesting).

Feminism in Sri Lanka

As you may know, violent warfare between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) is all but destroying the small country. As to be expected, this violence has disproportionately affected women. As they do not participate in the fighting as frequently as their male relatives, they are often left defenseless in areas that are still susceptible to violence. It's hard to report on exactly what's happening due to the extreme censorship, but it is known that violence is tearing apart the population of approximately 20 million.

Among the many medical crises facing the approximately 70,000 people trapped in the main conflict zone (non-government controlled areas), thousands of women are pregnant and cannot access pre or postnatal care or medical assistance during labor. I must admit even I don't frequently think of pregnant women when I think of conflict zones, but this highly vulnerable population is left with much higher risk of death during childbirth when they have zero access to childcare. Although a huge percentage of the female world population never sees a doctor before, during, or after childbirth, this is still an unnecessary risk, and specifically female risk in conflict zones.

Afghani law explicitly discriminates against women

In a sad follow up to the March 3 post about domestic violence shelters increasing in Afghanistan, the NY Times ran a story today about President Hamid Karzai's disgusting support of a law that clearly limit the rights of Shiite women. The law, among other glaring problems, limits a woman's ability to leave the house, and obliges her to have sex with her husband at all times (unless "ill").

President Karzai's objection, a frequent one with non-western leaders, is that the western media has misconstrued the reality of the law. I call bogus. I cannot stand when discrimination against women is called a "cultural difference". I think when we started this blog, we hoped for a place where non-western and western feminists could convene and share thoughts, ideas and frustrations. Afghani, specifically Shiite women's voices are missing from this debate. If anyone reading this has any thoughts/feelings/connections with this debate, and feels like they lack the platform in which to express them, please do so.

For the full story, click here

G20 Summit

Because there is far too much to report about it, I would encourage everyone to read as many news stories as possible about the G20 summit. Which leaders seem to realize the important role poverty plays in gender inequality? Which countries' financial stability takes priority?